Here is this week’s roundup of mini-reviews of new and recent DVD and Blu-ray releases.

The Hunger Games

Three and half stars out of five (3.5/5) – Imagine if Survivor were taken to its logical conclusion, and every week contestants were ceremoniously killed off during a live broadcast. That’s about all you need to know about this updated take on The Lottery. Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss Everdeen, a young woman who finds herself conscripted in the Hunger Games where she’s forced to kill or be killed. The plot is so barren that it’s easy to follow, even when the rest of the movie makes no sense and starts to look downright silly. Director Gary Ross gets the emotional notes just right by making Katniss the focus — the flawless heroine capable of bringing unspoken morality to a world gone mad. Fun, visually exciting and altogether geared for teen sensibilities, The Hunger Games will ramp up your appetite for the whole book trilogy from Suzanne Collins. Special features include three hours of behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with Lawrence and other cast members, faux propaganda, a conversation with Collins and more. KM

The Raid: Redemption

Three and half stars out of five (3.5/5) – Violence can be so much fun. A raw rush of adrenalin, muscles and acrobatic skill, the action movie could be the equivalent of the old-fashioned musical – only with buckets of fake blood. Yet, ever since Sam Peckinpah pushed the cinematic boundaries of gore and poetic death, a generation of creatively challenged directors cloned the results, without actually understanding the underlying psychological stakes. Violence should make us cringe, clutch and feel a bit queasy and Welsh director Gareth Evans seems to understand this critical difference, ensuring The Raid: Redemption feels like a return to old-fashioned fisticuffs. An action movie that showcases a particular brand of Indonesian martial arts called Pencak Silat, The Raid: Redemption features the physical mastery of its star and hero, Iko Uwais, as he plays a cop surrounded by bad guys. That’s all the exposition you need. The drama is entirely physical and it’s bloody good. Special features include commentary with Gareth Evans, behind-the-scenes blogs, behind the music segments, an evening with Gareth Evans, The Raid TV ad and more. KM

Warriors of the Rainbow: Siddiq Bale

Three stars out of five (3/5) – The movie broke every domestic box office record in Taiwan, proving small national cinemas can go very far if they hit the right note with the masses. And director Wei Te-sheng nailed it with this story of aboriginal insurrection. Just as the Japanese take over the beautiful island once called Formosa, a group of proud tribesmen living in the mountains decide they can’t be humiliated any longer. They fight the power, attack the Japanese encampment and end up earning the enmity of the mighty emperor. A wholesale slaughter follows, but even death looks good when you’re being yourself instead of someone else’s slave. A rousing lesson in national pride, Warriors of the Rainbow is also a rather predictable action movie. Special features include a shortened version, English subtitles, making-of featurette, behind-the-scenes footage, makeup and visual effects, the trailer and more. KM

Jaws Blu-ray:

Five stars out of five – OK, so it wasn’t exactly a five-star movie when it came out in 1975, but thanks to the passage of time and the enduring popularity of Steven Spielberg’s mechanical shark named Bruce, Jaws is now a bona fide cinema classic. Widely considered the seminal blockbuster and summer tent pole, this movie version of Peter Benchley’s pulpy story of a man-eating great white shark terrorizing vacationers created a popular sensation that kept people out of the water all summer long. A case example of the crazy alchemy that can happen in any branch of pop culture, Jaws resonated with the masses and became an event – forever changing the way studios functioned. This new version of Spielberg’s popcorn masterpiece features an all-new digital transfer with Dolby 7.1 sound, as well as The Shark is Still Working: The Impact and Legacy of Jaws, the restoration, the making-of, from the set footage, deleted scenes and outtakes, Jaws archives, digital copy and more. KM

Korczak

4 out of 5 stars - “He who pretends to sacrifice himself for a person or a cause is a liar,” the titular hero says emphatically at the start of Andrzej Wajda’s little-seen Holocaust drama, Korczak. “One likes cards, another prefers women, someone else swears by race horses. Me, I love children. It’s not a sacrifice in the least. I do it not for them, but for me.” Modest, earnest, frank, a great humanist as well as a doctor, educator and writer – Warsaw pediatrician Janusz Korczak (born Henryk Goldszmit) was many great things. None was enough to save 200 orphans in his care from being sent to the gas chambers at Treblinka in 1942, but Korczak tried – in fact, he died trying. Played by the fine actor Wojtek Pszoniak, his remarkable story was adapted in 1990 into this powerful movie by Wajda, one of Poland’s most famous directors (best known for the war movies A Generation, Kanal, Ashes and Diamonds, and more recently, Katyn). Agnieszka Holland – whose own Holocaust drama, In Darkness, was nominated last year for an Oscar for best foreign-language film – wrote the script and Wim Wenders’ cinematographer Robby Müller shot it all beautifully in black-and-white. Besides the English-subtitled movie, there’s only a trailer and a still gallery on the Kino Lorber DVD (also available on Blu-ray); some historical background would have been nice. Get this for the rarity of the movie. JH

La grande illusion (Blu-ray)

5 out of 5 - Essential viewing. Jean Renoir’s 1937 classic drama might just be the greatest (and subtlest) anti-war film ever made – sort of a thinking man’s The Great Escape. Working-class hero Jean Gabin and upper-crust counterpart Pierre Fresnay play WWI French aviators who are shot down and sent to a POW camp. After organizing their fellow inmates and almost breaking out, they wind up being transferred to a fortress in the mountains from which, it’s said, no escape is possible. At least, that’s what the camp commander, a monocole-wearing German aristocrat played by Erich von Stroheim, tells them. Will they try anyway? Of course they will. Will they succeed? If you don’t know already, watch the last part of the picture to find out. Orson Welles called Grand Illusion (as it’s known in English) the movie he’d take with him “on the Ark,” and coming from the director of Citizen Kane that was quite an endorsement, like Moses thanking God for the tablets. First issued in North America way back in 1999 as the flagship DVD of The Criterion Collection, the film has been restored by the Cinémathèque de Toulouse and issued in high-def Blu-ray by the French giant StudioCanal. Its release here by Alliance Vivafilm drops Renoir’s half-hour short from 1928, The Little Match Girl (available elsewhere on DVD), as well as a short featurette, but otherwise keeps all the other extras (which, like the film, have English subtitles): there’s an hour’s worth of trailers, histories and making-ofs, as well as a split-screen restoration comparison. JH

Also released Aug. 14:

Art Is: The Permanent Revolution

August

Community Season Three

Dalziel and Pascoe

Doctor Who: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy Fallen

Glee: The Complete Third Season

Happy Endings: Complete First and Second Seasons

The House of the Spirits

Juan of the Dead

La Promesse

Pawn Stars Vol. Five

Rosetta

The Royal Tenenbaums (Blu-ray)

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.